Single-trigger mechasnism for double-barrel guns.



PATENTEB DEC. 1

OLE. PEAKw GER MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE BARREL GUNS SINGLE TRIG APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. 19031.v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0. MODEL.

Wihyzsszs THE. ECKERT LIYNOGRAPmNG c0.. wrsumarou, D. c.

PATENTED DEC. 1 1903..

0. H. PEAK. SINGLE TRIGGER MEOHA sM FOE DOUBLE. BARREL GUNS,

' APPLIGATION FILED IEB. 3. 1903.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

, UNITED STATES PATENT rFroE.

ORIN H. PEAK, or PARSONS, KANSAS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No.'745,657, dated December 1, 1903. Application filed February 3, 1903- Serial No 141,735. (No model.)

To all ZUhOTlb it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ORIN H. PEAK, a citizen of the United States, residing atParson's,

int-he county of Labette and State of Kansas, {have invented a new and useful Single Trig- ".ger for Double-Barrel Shotguns, of which the" followinglifs-a specification.

My invention relates to sin gle-tri gger mechanisms for double-barrel firearms; and it con.-

.sists-in theconstruction and combinationof f partshereinafter described, and shown in the ;-accompanying drawings, in which- Figure] is a view in side elevation of the locks of 'a double-barrel hammerless gun pro- Vld6(1Wli3h a single-trigger mechanism constrnoted in accordance with my invention,

.'-the gun is broken for reloading. =-view in. side elevation showing the hammers parts of the: frame 0tthe locks being broken away to show the relations of the working parts of the locks.

In this view the plungers are shown in the position assumed when both barrels of the gun have been fired, and the sear-actuator is shown in solid lines in the position'which it takes when both barrels havebeen fired, while in dotted lines it is shown in the position which it takes when Fig. 2 is a cooked and showing in dotted lines the posi- 'ition of the sear-actuator when the shifterbutton is moved rearward. Fig. 3 is a trans- 'fverse section along the line X X of Fig. 1.

lines inEig. 2.

Fig.' 4 is adetail view showing, on a larger scale, iriperspective the relation of the searfactuator. to the sears when the parts of the S5 mechanism are in the position shown in solid Fig. 5 is a detail view, in side jelevatiernshowin g the position of safety taken Qlby the sear-actuator when the shifter-button .10 lies midway between its extreme forward '5 land rearward positions. Fig. 6 is a detail iyiew in section showing the construction of ;the pin by means of which the sear-actuator ternately, nsin g either onefirst, as he may desire;- or use either barrel; second, to simplify thec'onstruction of sin gle-trigger mechanisms and r'educe'the number of parts, and,third,

to obviate completely all danger of firing th second barrel prematurely.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a plate of steel made in the shape of a truncated triangle and having its apex directed upward, which I call the reverser. The sear-actuator 1 is pivotally mounted at the end of a flat piece of steel 2 and is normally 'thrown forward by means of a spring 3,w.hich

may be formed of wire and provided with one or more coils, or may, asshown, consist of a bent leaf.

4 represents a steel pin rigidly mounted in the sear-actuator 1 and extending through two weights 8 8, which are mounted, one on. each side, on the reverser 1. Upon the right the pin 4 extends far enough beyond the weight 8 to lie behind the hammer or tumbler 7, by which it is adapted to be engaged when the hammeris cocked-by breaking the gun.

5 5 are sears of the ordinary form and are provided with suitable sear-springs. (Not shown.)

6 is the trigger, which is mounted immediately below the sear-actuator 1 and is to be normally depressed by means of the usual spring. (Not shown.)

7 7' are the two hammers or tumblers,which are of the usual construction.

8 8' are weights, preferably of lead, secured to the sear-actuator 1,whose function will be hereinafter explained.

9 is a pin slidably mounted in a way provided in the look-frame between the two plungers and operated by means of the snap-lever 11 on top of the gun.

10 is a small plate or buttonmounted on top of the gun to the rear of the snap-lever 11, and having a short to-and-fro movement, which is limited by the length of a slot 12, through which passes the pin 13, which connects the steel strip 2 with the button 10.

Upon the right-hand side of the sear.actuator 1 I provide at the lower forward corner the small lug 14, and upon the left-hand side at the lower rear corner I provide a small lug 14, whose purpose will afterward appear.

The lug l lis'made, preferably, in the form of a right angle, as shown, and the vertical por tion of the ri ht angle servesas a stop, as will presentlycbe explained.

The operation. of my single-trigger mechanism is as follows: Let it be assumed that the parts arein the position shown in Fig. 1,

the hammers being down and the sear-acmater-thrown forward. In order to cockthe hammers, the gun is broken in the usual way by swinging the snap-lever 11 to'the right with the thumb and forcing the muzzle of the barrels downward. When the snap-lever is swung to'the right to break the gun, the pin 9,.is-forced backward against the sear-actuator 1, which is carried back to the position shown'ingFig. 2, and the pin 4 is thus moved far e ugh back to allow the hammer 7 to that it is desired'to fire the right barrel first.

This is accomplished by merely pulling the triggerfi when the'parts are in position shown in Fig. 2. The lug 14 is then immediately under the lug at the end of the sear 5, and when the trigger is pulled the sear-actuator l is carried up against the downward pressure of the strip of steel 2, carrying the lug Lt with it, and by the engagement of said lug 14 with the lug at the end of the sear 5 the sear is lifted and the hammer 7 released. As the hammer 7 goes forward the extension of the pin 4, which had been in engagement with the hammer, is released and the'spring 3 forces the sear-actuator 1 forward until the vertical portion of the lug 14' contacts with the end of the sear 5. The horizontal por- 1 tion of the lug 14 then lies immediately unwith the thumb to the end'of its slot.

draws the upper end of the sear-actuator l" der the lug at the end of the sear 5', and when the trigger is again pulled the resulting upward movement of the sear-actuator 1 and lug 14-. causes the -.lifting of the sear 5' and therelease of the hammer 7, which fires the left barrel of the gun.

If it is desired to fire the left barrel before the right, the button 10 is moved backward This backward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and as the pin 4 is held in contact with the hammer 7 by the action of the spring 3 it forms a pivot on which the reeg' verserisswung. Consequently thelowerend of the reverser swings forward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, until the lug 14 is no longer in position to engage the sear 5,,but-

be seen that if the button 10 is forward a pull upon the trigger when. both hammers are cocked will fire the right barrel and when the lbutton 10 is pushed back a pull on the trigger will firethe left barrel.

The gunner, therefore,1s enabled to fire either barrel at When the parts are in? they were before. .If after discharging the left barrel first the gunner desiresto fire the right barrel, the parts will be thrown into proper position by merely pushing the button 1O forvfard. As the hammer 'Zis still cooked, the pin4 lying in contact therewithforms a pivot-on which the sear-actuator turns from the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 2 into that shown in full lines and the-lug 14 is brought into position to engage the sear 5.

It is well known to gunners generally that owing to a spasmodic action of muscles there is after each discharge of the. gun an involuntary second pull upon the trigger. pull is made unconsciously,and it-seems practically impossible by efiort of will to avoid it, and if provision is not made to prevent such an occurrence this involuntary pult will cause the discharge of the second barrel in a double-barrel'gun of the single-trigger type. In my trigger mechanism this involuntary discharge of the second barrel is completely obviated in the following manner: After the discharge of theright barrel of the gun there is a recoil of the gun against the shoulder of the gunner, which is followed immediately by a forward movement of the gun due to the elasticity of the tissues of the gunne'rs shoulder. During the recoil the iner'tia'o-fthesearactuator-supplemented by that of,-the weights attached thereto causes the sear-actuator to move forward so that the lug 14 lies beneath the lug at the end of the sear 5'," and if the,

involuntary pull upon the trigger occurred during the recoil the left barrel of the gun might'accidentally be discharged thereby. When the forwardmovement of the gun due to its rebound from the shoulder of the gun- This ner.occurs,theinertia of the sear-actuatorsupv plemented by that of the weights attached thereto causes it to swing back slightly, so-

If the weights 8 8 were not at-' tached to the sear-actuator, its inertia would i not be so fiicient to causeit to swing backward upon the rebound of the gun with'sufficient momentum to overcome the pressure exerted upon it by the springl-i at the rear thereof; but by providing the weights 8 8 and makdngthem sufficiently heavy the pressure of spring 3 is effectively overcome at the proper time and the involuntary pull upon the trigger which always follows the discharge of one barrel of the gun is made inefieotive upon the remaining barrel. When the left barrel is fired first, there is no danger of accidental discharge of the right barrel, for the reason that thelug ii is too far forward to engage the lug on the sear5.

The 'useof the weights 8 8" to prevent premature firing of the left barrel'of the gun after firing the right barrel is of especial value, because there is no mechanism which can possibly get out of order and the action:

of the weights is absolutely positive and automatic.

The lugs provided at the ends of the scars 5 and 5' are made small to permit the adjustment of the sear-actuator to a position of safety, as shown in Fig. 5, this adjustment being obtained by setting the shifter-button- 10 at a point midway between its extreme forward and rearward position. As will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 5, when the sear-actuator is in this position the lug 14 is too far forward to engage the lug on the sear 5, and the lug 14 is not far enough forward to engage the lug on the end of the sear 5. Consequently any pull upon the trigger when the sear-actuator is in this position will not cause the discharge of either barrel of the gun, because the upward movement of the reverser which would result from a pull upon the trigger does not bring either the lug 14 or the lug 14 into contact with the sear which it is adapted to operate.

Having now fully described the construction and operation of my improved singletrigger mechanism for double-barrel firearms, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the hammers, sears, and controlling-springs of a plurality of gun-locks of a single trigger, a spring above said trigger, a movable member carrying a lug for each sear pivotally mounted on said spring and adapted to be operated by the trigger, and means whereby the movable member is automatically shifted after the discharge of one barrel to a position in which it may become operative to discharge another. r

2. The combination with the hammers,

scars, and controlling-springs of a plurality of gun-locks of a single trigger, a movable member carrying a lug for each sear and adapted to be operated by the trigger, a spring on which said movable member is pivotally mountedand a second spring attached to the first-mentioned spring and adapted to shift said movable member automatically after firing one barrel to the position for firing another.

3. The combination with the hammers, sears, and controlling-springs of a plurality of gun-locks, of a single trigger, a movable member provided with a lug for each sear and adapted to be operated by the trigger, and means whereby the movable member may be placed in position for firing any one of the barrels, or in position such that none of said barrels can be discharged. 7

4. The combination with the hammers, scars, and controlling-springs of a plurality of gun-locks, of a single trigger, a movable member provided with a lug for each scar and adapted to be operated by the trigger, a sliding support upon which the movable member is mounted, and means for sliding said support to shift the position of the movable member to enable the gunner to fire any bar-'- rel at will.

5. The combination with the hammers, sears, and controlling-springs, of a plurality of gun-locks, of a single trigger, a pivoted member provided with a lug for each sear and adapted to be operated by the trigger, a pin rigidly mounted on said movable memher, and adapted to engage with one of the hammers, when it is cooked, and prevent the forward movement of the movable member, and a spring which tends to force the movable member forward.

6. The combination with the hammers, sears, and controlling-springsof a plurality of gun-locks, of a single trigger, a movable member provided with a lug for each sear and adapted tobe operated by said trigger, a slidable member upon which said movable memberis pivoted, a pin projecting laterally from said movable member and adapted to contact with one of said hammers and form a'pivot on which said movable member may be swung by sliding the support upon which said movable member is hung.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ORIN H. PEAK.

lVitnesses: I

0. II. HoWLETr, Ii. L. BENEDICT. 

